Collectively useable but privately held tools.

[Songthrush]

I'd like to suggest a feature that would make resource collection a manageable job, much like repairing is now. Collectively useable but privately held tools.

Right now, when a person starts several repairs, others can freely join them and help to carry it out, while the repaired object always ends up in the initiator's inventory, if he's there.

We'd like very much if there was a similar mechanism for "making public" one's tools, i.e. pickaxes, shovels and so on. Now it makes sense to have many and "share them out" because you will no longer keep loosing these difficult to acquire items simply because somebody among your coworkers falls asleep or forgets to return them to you.

All resources produced by people using "shared" tools should go into the tool owner's inventory. If the owner leaves the location, tools left public there should remain useable by anyone, and produced goods go on the ground (as usual). The owner would need the ability to cancel the "shared status" on the tool at any time, at which point it simply returns in his inventory and can be repaired etc. as usual.

I think this kind of thing would massively promote the organization of legitimate and manageable worker unions and player run "factories" in cities.

[kinvoya]

Some of my chars would fine this to be heavenly. Keeping track of tools and getting them back from the walking dead is a big pain. Especially now that they can deteriorate (the tools, I mean).

[Sho]

Sounds like a massive programming and planning headache, probably not worthwhile - this sounds like a convenience issue to me. There's also the realism angle - how realistic is it that you can leave shared tools in a room and walk away?

And how would these shared tools be viewed and used? Is this going to require another tab?

I'd be better able to critique this if there was a full proposal.

EDIT: Never mind what I said; Schme's got it right.

[Schme]

This doesn't make sense. If you want to share a tool, just pass it around.

How can you have a communal wrench that will do things automatically and everyone will know the owner? Unless I carve my name into my wrench, then people might not know it's mine, plane and simple. And I wouldn't blame them.

Why would this be different in Cantr? To share a tool, just pass it around and be careful who you lend it too. If someone tries to stiff you, get the law or get your knife.

[kinvoya]

I was thinking more in terms of:

Aretha wants to use your file or she is your employee and you want her to make a key. Instead of handing Aretha the file (and then she falls asleep for the next 12 days until she drops dead or, worse, Aretha's player is still logging on but not playing her for some reason and so she continues to live on and on while your file deterioates) you click a button that gives Aretha the use of the file until you unclick.

It's a "loan a tool" button. It would have a drop down menu just like when you hand a tool to someone. It's like you put a little leash on your files and yank it back when you want to. The loaner and loanee would have to stay in the same area, though.

This would lead to a lot more generosity with loaning tools, obviously. Chars wouldn't have to all be making their own screwdrivers and such. It would be so cool but I know it will never happen.

[Sho]

It's a lender's responsibility to decide whether it's safe to lend something. They shouldn't have a hard-coded crutch to lean on.

What's the in-game explanation for this, anyway? A leash isn't realistic, though I don't think you meant it to be.

[Agar]

If you're worried about the help nicking your tools, either A: Make them work the machines or gather resorces (or drag people away so they can gather resources) or B: Lock the door!

In any case, it doesn't make sense in real life, and can be resolved in charater.

No code for you! <=== Soup Nazi paraphrase

[A Neo Irony]

Or C: Get some collateral before you loan the tool.

[Nick]

D: Kill whoever steals from you. I can guarantee a 0% reoffending rate.

[Songthrush]

I think you guys just aren't hearing what is being said in this thread.

Please give me an in-context explanation of why this system already exists and works for repairing - player run repair shops/factories are common, sometimes with official buildings, while every other type of manufacturer or resource gatherer business is severely handicapped.

The IC explanation for the temporary loan of a tool is that you accept a temporary loan of a tool.

[SekoETC]

Yeah, why does one automatically "hand" the tool to the starter of a repair project even if you were doing all the work. That doesn't make any sense. We might say if the project starter is not working on the project when it finishes then the result should go in the worker's inventory.

But hardcoding tool loanability doesn't make sense, just tell your people that if they fall asleep on your file then you'll chop them with your sabre. Then again when it's friends it's a bit harder...

[Songthrush]

We are talking about a fundamental gameplay enhancement here, it's convenient, easy to understand, and realistic. Though I liked the idea with a dropdown box and personal loans (PersonA to PersonB direct), let's suppose that is too convenient for Cantrians. Why then not have a mechanism, where a person makes some of their tools public, using a button for that particular situation, which will appear with all the tools (pickaxes, shovels, etc.) Anybody in the same area can then claim ("pick up") the tool, and get something like this in their inventory:

A used shovel [Borrowed from Agar]

At this point the person can start or join any project requiring a shovel as usual.

Meanwhile, Agar sees in his inventory:

[On loan to Satai] A used shovel

I'll volunteer to design the "stop loan" button which appears next to the above in Agar's inventory, if that's necessary. My plan is to simply duplicate the classic X button for cancelling projects, I think it would do great in this new role

I understand that coding a whole additional button and such for this mechanism would be difficult and Programming has better things to do.

Therefore I'd like to throw in a related proposal to something that will annoy Programming even more: Let's have a special kind of building that comes with "slots" on the outside; once built, one can place any tools or machines in these slots and they become usable by the general public.

Everything produced using these tools automatically gets depositied inside the building. This way true factories for every kind of resource and manufacturing could be created and operated in-game. The owner might put a lock on it, or not - as usual with buildings. The owner should be able to add tools to the slots of their factory and remove them at any time.

[Nick]

It just isn't realistic.

[Songthrush]

Do you know any other good tunes, Marketing Department Nick?

[Schme]

Alright, hows this?

It's stupid.